Back when I was shooting for Modified Magazine, regular trips up to San Francisco were part of the job, since the Bay Area had no shortage of builds worth the short flight or drive. On one of those trips, Gene Tjin and I lined up several plusONE cars to shoot with the Golden Gate Bridge as the backdrop. By the end of the day, we had knocked out two EGs along with this EK, which belonged to Roy Barba at the time.
The weather had other plans for us that day, and the rain came down hard enough that most crews probably would have packed it in. We shot the car anyway, since the wet conditions gave it a completely different look, and doing rig shots in the rain was a new experience for me, between the extra long exposures and raindrops collecting on the lens. The skies eventually cleared up enough for another round of photos, and we even took the car into a parking garage for one more set. Riding around NorCal in the hatch that day was a lot of fun.
While the photos are far from perfect, this is still one of my favorite shoots I’ve ever done. I loved Roy’s EK, and the House of Kolor Kandy Brandywine paint worked incredibly well against the Golden Gate Bridge. The feature ran in the July 2006 issue of Modified Magazine, which happened to be the magazine’s fourth-anniversary issue and a collector edition with a foil cover.
Underneath that Kandy Brandywine was a long list of Civic Type-R and other JDM pieces. The exterior used Civic Type-R headlights, taillights, front and rear lips, side markers, grille, and thin moldings, along with CTR EK9 and SiR EK4 VIN plates. J’s Racing supplied the carbon fiber canards and rear tow hook, while an R-Crew one-off front diffuser, Spoon Sports carbon fiber rear spoiler, Vision Type-DC carbon fiber sideview mirrors, Mugen gas cap, and Honda Accessory window visors filled out the rest of the exterior. Shaved emblems and keyless door handles cleaned everything up, while a Cusco six-point roll cage sat inside.
Under the hood is a Hasport-mounted B18C1 swap with a long list of Spoon Sports parts, including the air box, spark plug wires, Kevlar spark plug wire cover, N1 exhaust, radiator brackets, radiator cap, titanium bolts, valve cover, head gasket, and camshafts. Mugen supplied the header and oil cap, while Integra Type-R valves, valve springs, retainers, and pistons were used internally. The rest of the setup included a Cusco oil catch can, Flex-a-Lite slim fan, Koyo aluminum radiator, Samco radiator hoses, and Civic Type-R fuse box cover and oil dipstick. An Exedy Stage 1 Organic clutch and 9-pound AASCO chromoly flywheel handled the drivetrain.
The suspension combined a TEIN FLEX coilover kit with an Integra Type-R five-lug conversion, an EM Racing C-pillar bar, Rigid three-point front and rear strut bars, a Spoon Sports rear lower tie bar, SRR rear lower control arms, and a Civic Type-R trunk wall bar. The car rode on 17×7-inch JoustMeister Compe Version 1 wheels wrapped in 205/40R17 Yokohama ES100s at all four corners and secured with blue Spoon Sports lug nuts. Power Slot slotted rotors, PBR brake pads, and a Cusco brake master cylinder stopper rounded out the brake setup.
The interior followed the same theme, starting with a Vision Corsa Kevlar driver’s seat and a Bride Ergo I for the passenger. A MOMO Tuner steering wheel sat on a MOMO hub with an NRG quick release and plusONE steering wheel plate, while Mugen pieces included an anodized red gauge cluster faceplate, anodized red driver’s seat rail kit, and anodized blue shift knob. An AutoMeter gauge pod housed DEFI D-Gauge air/fuel ratio and oil pressure gauges above an Si gauge cluster, with Project µ pedals underfoot. Civic Type-R A/C vents, center console, e-brake handle, rear seats, road flare, and carpet were joined by Integra Type-R floor mats and shift boot, along with a JDM SiR ashtray/lighter console and climate controls.
The audio setup used an Si CD deck, Kenwood 600-watt amp, Kicker 10-inch Solo-Baric subwoofer, Alpine 6x9s, and a Civic Type-R tweeter pod, with an Optima YellowTop battery. Like the rest of the car, there was a lot going on once you started looking closely, but none of it felt randomly thrown together. That attention to detail was a big part of why I liked the car so much at the time.
Twenty years later, it’s pretty awesome to see plusONE still doing their thing. We’re hoping to reconnect with the crew the next time we’re in the Bay Area and see what they’re working on now. After all this time, I wouldn’t mind putting a few more plusONE cars in front of my camera.
GalleryPhotos by Jason Siu
